THE PEACEMAKER:

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THE PEACEMAKER ADLAI STEVENSON AND THE CUBAN
MISSILE CRISIS
EMILY FULLER, DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, SENIOR
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THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS WHAT HAPPENED?

• On October 16, 1962 President John F. Kennedy
  received photographic evidence of the placement
  of missiles in Soviet-aligned Cuba, just 90 miles
  from the U.S. shoreline
• This action triggered a crisis between the Cold
  War superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United
  States, that could have possibly resulted in
  nuclear war and worldwide apocalypse
• Through compromise and strategic planning,
  specifically on the American side with the use of
  Executive Committee of the National Security
  Council (EXCOMM), the two countries leaders
  averted disaster

Picture provided by www.cia.gov
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WHO WAS ADLAI STEVENSON?
Picture provided by www.BBCMundo.com.

• Adlai Stevenson, former Governor of Illinois and
  two-time Presidential candidate, was a darling
  to the left side of politics and a longtime
  respected leader of the Democratic party
• Under the Kennedy administration, Stevenson
  became the United States Ambassador to the United
  Nations and a member of EXCOMM, the select group
  of close advisors that helped President Kennedy
  shape the policies of the crisis
• Although public opinion may remember Stevenson
  for his Courtroom of World Opinion Speech,
  where he finally told the Soviet Union off,¹
  Stevensons role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, in
  reality, included a more extensive participation

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THESIS STATEMENT
Best known for his liberal and conciliatory
manner, Adlai Stevenson did show a more
aggressive side in the Cuban Missile Crisis
during his UN battle however, this part of the
crisis highlights the overarching theme of his
participationhis dedication to peace. He fought
with a tough vigor because his performance helped
the American case in the crisis. Furthermore,
every way which Stevenson participated in the
crisis helped move the Cold War superpowers more
towards peace. He played the roles of idealist,
messenger, negotiator, warrior, and closer.
Contrary to what many historians have written, he
played a major role in the resolution of the
crisis. But, he was also, as evidence shows, a
victim of the crisis. Because of the dominating
Cold War ideology, his publicly-stated push for
peace made him an easy target. Still, even his
part as the victim proved he wanted peace above
anything elseenough for hard-lined hawks of
the crisis and the Cold War to use his peacemaker
persona as a tool for criticism.

• OVERARCHING THEME
• HIS DEVOTION TO PEACE
• HELPED THE COLD WAR SUPERPOWERS ACHIEVE PEACE
• CRUCIAL PART IN THE CRISIS WITH MANY ROLES
• OPPOSED BY HARD-LINED HAWKS AND COLD WAR
  IDEOLOGY

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PRIMARY RESOURCES
SECONDARY LITERATURE
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• THE IDEALIST
• October 20th EXCOMM suggestions

THE FACES OF STEVENSON

• THE MESSENGER
• a grave threat announced at the October 23rd
  UN meeting

• THE NEGOTIATOR
• U Thant initiative and the American response

• THE WARRIOR
• Courtroom of World Opinion² speech

• THE CLOSER
• Resolution/ U.S. and U.S.S.R. settlement

Picture provided by www.princeton.edu.

• THE VICTIM
• Stevenson wanted a Munich³

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THE CONCLUSION TO STEVENSON AND THE CRISIS

• PEACE WAS MADE
• STEVENSON REPRESENTED AN OPPOSITION TO THE
  TYPICAL COLD WAR IDEOLOGY
• MARTYR

In the end, peace was made. Stevenson the
Peacemaker could count his role as a success
although the Munich attack took away the twinkle
in his eye that surfaced after his Courtroom of
World Opinion speech. Stevenson opposed the
typical Cold War ideology of the time that stated
weakness led to an end to the American way of
life. For the lobbying of his beliefs,
Stevenson, the Cuban Missile Crisis Peacemaker,
paid dearly for the policies he fought to
install, making him a true martyr for peace. Was
it worth it? Stevenson thought so
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AS HE STATED, PEACE IS ALWAYS WORTHWHILE.
THANK YOU. ANY QUESTIONS?
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THE PEACEMAKER ADLAI STEVENSON AND THE CUBAN
MISSILE CRISIS

• Endnotes
• Broadwater, Odyssey of a Cold War Liberal (New
  York Twayne Publishers, 1994), 13.
• Adlai Stevenson and the Cuban Missile Crisis,
  MUDD Manuscript Library, Princeton University,
  http//infoshare1.princeton.edu/libraries/fireston
  e/rbsc/mudd/online_ex/stevenson_speech/.
• Charles Bartlett and Stewart Alsop, In Time of
  Crisis, Saturday Evening Post, 8 December 1962,
  reprinted in Robert Divine, The Cuban Missile
  Crisis (New York M Weiner, 1988), 72.